shortcake ; namjin

day 60 pt. 2

"there must be a spring or something nearby, even a pond." namjoon left his shoes on, the soles of them crunching against the grains of sand. he was walking close to the flora more than he was the shoreline, peaking through the greenery for any signs of puddles.

"joon-ah," seokjin calls softly from behind him. halfheartedly and stemming from a place of distraction, namjoon hums out a short noise urging seokjin to say whatever he needed. "you're really smart, you know? sometimes i see you do things and think, wow i'm dating a clueless motherfucker, but then you say stuff that—well. you're just smart. you've got a lot of obscure knowledge though," seokjin laughs quietly at his own words, "it's cute."

namjoon looks over his shoulder at his boyfriend, smiling something shy but straining at the corners, a little untamed but struggling to keep at bay. "that's partly yoongi's fault." as soon as the words left his mouth, the frog in his hands leaps out and straight into a bush. "hey!" namjoon whips his head around, eyes frenzied and mouth agape.

"even amphibians cower in his name," seokjin marveled, "he's so powerful."

"he's going to die!" namjoon lamented with an unsoundly wail. seokjin smoothed a comforting hand over his boyfriend's back, both highly amused and fond over namjoon's soft spot for animals. "he'll be fine, joon-ah. he probably used your pretty hands as free transportation anyway." seokjin cracked half smile at the way namjoon's distress made his face scrunch with dismay.

"you're like some kind of nature princess," he had said once finally succeeding in tugging a disappointed namjoon away from the tangles of beach grass and sea grape vines. "and as much as the coastal flora is breathtaking, how about we take a walk and explore a little more? before the sun goes down."

"i don't know, pumpkin." namjoon turned to seokjin with a small sigh. "i didn't bring the right shoes for this and i have sand in my socks." he kicked at the ground underneath him sheepishly, his fingers fidgeting around one another, mind still clearly on the small friend he made that abandoned him for the amphibious life.

seokjin took namjoon's hands into his own and swung them side to side, swaying his body with the movement. "we're on a beach, just take them off!" his voice tinged with petulance and his eyes doing the thing, namjoon had no choice but to oblige. the enchantment had already been casted and he was under seokjin's charm, there was no free-will in him to say no.

he tugged off his hiking sneakers, his socks littered in fine sediment and slipping through the fabric to stick against his feet. the sensation was uncomfortable and he grimaced when peeling away the socks and stuffing them into the bag.

"perfect!" seokjin chimed with glee, urgently slotting his finger's between namjoon's own and tugging him towards the lapping shore. he couldn't see it, but he heard a delighted yet muted laugh from namjoon behind it. he just knew the other was smiling closed lips around his glee and that along pulled seokjin's heart strings taut.

they spent most of their time walking on the wet sand and childishly stomping their footprints where the sea water receded. namjoon would comment on how the briny smell of the ocean comforted him, and seokjin would think to himself how namjoon's presence alone comforted him. they'd pick up shells that the water carried up, admiring the different colors and textures. seokjin's favorite so far was a rough orange and white one, striations marking the face of it, and namjoon's favorite so happened to be a creme colored, smooth textured tiny thing.

"are you trying to tell me something?" seokjin teased when namjoon dropped the shell back into the creeping water. he was barely heard, but just enough that namjoon at least quirked in curious at the question; his eyes darting to the elder and looking subtly puzzled. "if you like tiny things so much you should've just dated jimin." seokjin was joking, of course, but namjoon's response raised a genuine scoff from his mouth.

"yoongi's tiny too."

seokjin threw his arms in the air and stomped further away from his unappreciative boyfriend. and in his melodrama, from his ears that were tipped a telling red, he could hear namjoon's bellowing laugh from behind him.

really, if seokjin were truly upset, he wouldn't have let namjoon catch up to him. he wouldn't let the taller boy drape himself over his back and shoulders. he wouldn't smile uncontrollably about all the things namjoon found so wonderful about him, the things he contently whisper into his ear—soft breath ticking the shell and large hands rubbing his torso.

further along their walk, farther down the beach, the found somewhat of an inlet and curiosity got the better of them both. the small inlet turned out to be the mouth of a cave underneath the mountain both men had hiked earlier on, and with the sun shining into it, the water glimmered cerulean and silver. seokjin snapped a picture.

"let's go in." namjoon said suddenly, untangling himself from seokjin and nearing closer to the cave. "hey," seokjin warned, "it could be dangerous—" it went on unhearing ears.

the cave had turned out to be a wonder of sorts. what was at the beginning water that came up to seokjin's waist turned into land he could walk on, and then, at the center of it all, a pool of clear water. "it's so beautiful." namjoon's voice was awed, turning to his boyfriend with an unabashed smiled, "best vacation ever."

seokjin really wished he could chalk namjoon's beauty down the the refractions of light bouncing off the water of the lagoon, but he new better. deep down in his heart, he knew better.

the sun shone into the cave, lighting the water and small crevices and namjoon's face. but the shadows, the contrasting depth it drew, deepening and chiseling and outlining all of namjoon's best features—and all of namjoon's features were his best features—stopped seokjin's heart, brain, and all sense of ration thought.

"i love you." he said. has he said that before? he wasn't sure, and it didn't matter, because this moment right here is when it all flooded in. stitched into the fabric of time, down to the very second of breath the words his left his mouth, seokjin felt this was the most ultimate form of love. he wanted to live for this moment alone and this moment forever.

namjoon's eyes rounded and his lips fell into a puckered circle of surprise. sometimes, it felt like namjoon was the most wonderful thing that ever happened to seokjin. how he got so lucky, he'll never understand, but will be eternally grateful.

it took a second before namjoon whispered back, "i love you, too." his voiced was awed, disbelieving. "i love you so much." he continued, walking back to where seokjin stood frozen. "i don't think there was ever a moment where i didn't love you."

seokjin couldn't help the snort that ungraciously left his mouth. "cheesy," he teased, "even when i threw up on you? even when i brought terror in the form of my coworkers and friends into your life?"

namjoon smoothed his hands down seokjin's arms, leaving a path of lingering sparks in their wake. even in the heat he was getting goosebumps. "even then." namjoon's eyes didn't let up from his boyfriend's. he took in and savored every inch of skin he could see from this close not realizing how microscopic he was making the older man feel.

"joon-ah." seokjin breathed, caressing the side of his partner's face. "let me show you how much i love you."

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oh hi!

i was gonna make them do the nasty but im Sad and i dont feel like writing anymore, so no smut but i guess i'll do a follow up in the next chapter? who knows